Product category:
Batteries, chargers and circuit protection
News Release from: Saft Industrial Batteries | Subject: SBL cells
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 06 November 2002
Nickel-cadmium batteries provide backup
in Qatar
Saft rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries will provide 8h of autonomous backup power for critical control and protection systems at a new electricity and desalination plant in Qatar.
Saft rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries will provide 8h of autonomous backup power for critical control and protection systems at the new electricity and desalination plant currently under construction near the city of Ras Laffan in Qatar The nickel-cadmium batteries, which will comprise a total of 196 Saft SBL cells, have been selected in preference to lead-acid Plante batteries in order to ensure a longer service life, greater reliability and reduced maintenance requirements in this demanding application where temperatures can range between -10 and +50C
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 21 Feb 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Unbiased battery comparison software!
Saft's new free software compares within seconds the suitability of different types of industrial batteries according to user-defined criteria - and it doesn't always recommend Saft's own batteries.
Credit Suisse changes to nickel-cadmium batteries
Credit Suisse Group, the global banking and insurance group, has become the first major bank to adopt nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries to guarantee the power supply to critical computer systems.
The Rass Laffan plant is located on the Persian Gulf coast, 100km from Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Two Italian companies are jointly responsible for the development, with Enelpower constructing a 750MW power plant which will provide electricity to Fisia Italimpianti's desalination plant, capable of producing 40 million gallons of water a day, equal to the daily water consumption of a city with a population of 600,000.
CEG Elettronica Industriale - Bibbiena Arezzo, the contractor responsible for the electrical standby systems for Ras Laffan, required eight batteries to back-up an entire 110V system for up to 8h to support the critical DC and AC systems, including motors and emergency lights.
Further reading
World's most powerful storage battery to be built
Saft, the battery company, has won an order worth around US$10million for the design and manufacture of the world's most powerful storage battery, capable of supplying 40 MW of power
Rechargeable Ni-Cd battery for onboard rail use
A new battery has been purpose designed to provide the perfect high performance on-board battery system for LRV, metro, EMU, locomotive and high speed rail systems
Initially, lead-acid Plante batteries were specified.
However, Fisia Italimpianti, which has substantial experience of rechargeable battery systems in Middle East desalination plants, persuaded CEG to switch to nickel-cadmium batteries.
Valerio Telo of Saft Italy, which is supplying the batteries to CEG, explains that the main advantage of nickel-cadmium batteries in this application is their predictable lifetime, without the risk of sudden death failure: "One of the main problems with lead-acid Plante cells is that their ageing is not linear, which makes it difficult to predict when they will need replacing.
And there is always a possibility of 'sudden death' failure.
In contrast, although their initial purchase cost is higher, nickel-cadmium cells are usually considered a more reliable choice for critical system applications, especially as they are more tolerant of the extreme environmental conditions found in the Middle East.
They also have much longer service life, typically three times as long, and their ageing is linear and easily predictable".
"Another key advantage is that the SBL pocket plate black batteries we are supplying to Ras Laffan require very infrequent maintenance, with electrolyte top-up intervals of 18 months".
For the desalination plant Saft is supplying a total of 92 SBL cells configured as four-off 2560Ah batteries - comprising two parallel strings of 1280Ah, together with two-off 1720Ah batteries - comprising two parallel strings of 860Ah.
For the power plant Saft is supplying 104 SBL cells configured as two 4350Ah batteries - each comprising three parallel strings of 1450Ah. Request a free brochure from Saft Industrial Batteries ...
• Saft Industrial Batteries: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
